South Padre Island
Texas

March 16, 2020 - Monday morning

73 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Brownsville, Texas

Well, it happened. I awakened at 2:30 this morning and lay in bed wide awake. No amount of tossing and turning would lull me back to sleep so I simply got up and came out to the living room. No sense in robbing Sargie of her night time slumber. 

I'm a bit disappointed as this early morning broke my string of nights that I've slept without waking even once. For the first time in years, I've slumbered straight through, from bedtime to dawn. 

I was lying in bed a bit ago and see that the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum is closed until April 2 due to the virus. 

Darn it.

We purchased our tickets weeks ago and had planned on spending two days there, one at the museum, and the other touring the Ark on our way home. Oh well, we'll just have to catch it on our next drive south.

We had a ball here in southern Texas on Sunday. Taking off towards South Padre Island, just a few miles to the east, we stopped at a pawn shop along the way, then a burger place to eat, and finally made our way to Port Isabel, and eventually, onto the island.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this fire plug painted in Packers colors. Kind of matches the house too, doesn't it?

 It amazing how many oil refineries there are along the Gulf Coast. 

People were fishing where we crossed water and the array of cactuses and other succulents was amazing.

Port Isabel lies on the mainland and is the gateway to the bridge that connects South Padre Island.

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The day was spent walking, talking, picking up shells, playing in and around the water, and laughing even more. 

I was taking a picture of Sargie and Sheri.
Those skimpily clad girls just happened to be walking through.

It's a different world on the beach during spring break. Planes pulling banners were constantly flying overhead. This one was advertising condoms.

 For being spring break, the beach wasn't overly crowded. I suppose the Corona Virus that is going on has kept a lot of people away.

The weather was absolutely perfect. Highs were in the upper 70's with mixed sunshine for much of the day.

Play? Oh, how we played.

Loud music was blaring from one of the ongoing parties. Sargie couldn't resist. The girl started doing the boogaloo, a combination of a jog, the mashed potato, the twist, the Watusi, and the Texas Two Step.



My gyrating bride was out of control. Yooper Brother Mark caught the dance fever and soon joined her.

Shake it Brother, shake it

Not being able to match either, I decided to hang with a few of my peeps, the boys from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. When they learned Dad had been a Hawkeye, I was invited to their party. 

One slapped me on the back, another shoved a beer in my hand.

It was picture time. It was official. My BFF's and I were on spring break. 

WHOOP WHOOP!!!

LET THE PARTY BEGIN!

 Actually, I returned the unopened beer and thanked the boys for letting this old man hang out with them for a few minutes. Great kids, friendly, fun, and polite.

Thanks guys. Go you Hawkeyes!

Baywatch? I never did see Pamela Anderson and her friends.

The four of us joined a more rambunctious party closer to one of the large hotels.

The oversized munchkins were readying for a tug of war contest between the various states from where the kiddies came.

I'm fairly certain that the four of us blended in with the college age crowd as we were totally hip, rad, boss, and bada**. 

I accidentally took a few pictures of young ladies dressed in disappearing dental floss. In fact, there are a couple of million dollar snapshots, but since this is a family blog, you'll just have to take my word for it.

I'm glad none were my daughter. (If I had one.)

We left the partying to the college kids and drove east on the island to the dunes and a beach that was much more secluded.

 It was there that we found seashells, lots and lots of seashells. 

We also found a peace and tranquility that had escaped us on the other part of the island.

 Tired, happy, and hungry, we left the island and returned to Port Isabel on the mainland where we enjoyed an outstanding meal at Marcello's, an Italian/seafood restaurant.

Sargie's perusing the spirits list and decided on a pretend bottle of vintage vino that cost a mere $125.

 Our host/waiter and my newest BFF was a good natured and humorous fellow named Luis. We'd changed our minds of what to order several times and Luis was happy to oblige. Of course, he teased us, we teased him, and he made our dining experience that much more pleasurable.

I gave Luis my blog and email address and hope he keeps in touch. 

Thanks for making our meal a good one, Luis!



And the meal. At Luis's suggestion, both Mark and I had steak and scallops. Those, along with vegetables and other sides made for great dining. It was one of the best meals I've had since we ate the Old Country Store in Lorman, Mississippi and dined at Charlie's Catfish House in Laurel.

Sargie's going to have to roll me in the house when we arrive home on Pentoga Road next week.

We were almost back to the condo in Brownsville when I spotted this:

What a deal. Borrow $1,000 and at their interest rate, a person would pay over $500 in interest by the end of the year. I left the phone number should you want to take advantage of the offer.

Mark and I soaked in the hot tub last evening before calling it a night. None of us stayed up too late.

I make friends with Luis and the college boys. Mark's newest BFF is a duck.

 I believe we're heading to the Brownsville Zoo for a day of wild animal browsing. According to the literature, it's quite large and one of the better ones.

It's still only 5 AM. I think I'll finish this and try to grab another hour or two of sleep before officially beginning the day.



After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Brownsville, Texas.... y'all.